Dying is Easy, It's Living That's the Hard Part
by facelessgunslinger
Summary: She died; she died in my arms. She died smiling at me like she knew some thing I didn't, and I'm beginning to think she did. Ichigo/Yoruichi Don't own Bleach!
1. Chapter 1

Just something that came to mind one day. I'll just post it up here for a month or so to see if it get any reviews and if it doesn't, I'll understand that you guys don't like it and delete it.

Don't own Bleach!

_STORY START_

Rain fell from the sky that day. It wasn't a light rain or a brief sprinkle; it was a downpour the likes that hadn't been viewed in this dimension in decades. Like Zangetsu, Ichigo hated the rain, it seemed to only weigh people down when they needed strength the most. Like he did. Ichigo stood as still as he could as the pallbearers lifted a casket into the ground, although if you were to put your hand on his shoulder you would feel him shaking uncontrollably. His eyes lifted from the coffin to Kuukaku Shiba crying on the shoulder of Byakuya Kuchiki, while he swore he could she a few tears on Byakuya's face as well. Most of the captains made the ceremony in their best clothing, to honor the dead. Soi Fon was absent.

Ichigo sighed and adjusted his suit. It was a long, black, double-breasted coat with a dark blue undershirt and a pair of special boots he took out of the back of his closet just for this occasion; in his opinion, he looked like a aristocrat from the 1700s. But Rukia had insisted he wear them, and he did.

For _her._

Most of the captains were staring at him, confused at how undisturbed he was at her death, despite how close the two soul reapers appeared. His face looked as if it was carved of stone.

The funeral soon ended and almost every mourner left to the Kuchiki Estate to mourn privately. Ichigo was the last one standing in front of her grave almost an hour later, he kneeled down into the fresh soil and caressed the tombstone as if it was alive. His head drooped and he felt worse than he probably had ever felt in his life.

"I know I couldn't protect you, but I promise I'll make it right..." He mumbled.

A man approached Ichigo from his side with one hand in his pocket and the other holding two shovels. He wore a blue tuxedo with a sand-colored duster over it. His face was obscured behind a heavy-looking steel mask with curly, blonde hair that reached his chest.

"Ready, mate?" The man asked with a British accent.

Ichigo stood up and caught a shovel that was tossed to him. "Ready as I'll ever be." He said as he drove the shovel into the ground.

As the two men burrowed through the fresh ground in the pouring rain the name on the tombstone was mostly covered by the earth they expelled from their way, but as the grave robbers made off with the casket to a nearby portal, the name of the deceased in question was displayed clearly in large, gold letters:

_**YORUICHI**_ _**SHIHOUIN**_

_CHAPTER END_

CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM WELCOME! NO FLAMES! If you think it sucks, keep it to yourself.


	2. Chapter 2

Hah! Not even an hour and I got a review! Kaiser969, you rock! OK! Chapter 2 ladies and gentlemen!

Random quote of the day: 'You ever see a Lamprey? That's your girlfriend's face; that's how ugly she is!' -My Brother

_CHAPTER START_

"Can you do it?"

Ichigo stood off to the side of a room made of bricks. The room had two metal sinks in the corner, and a bookshelf across from it. Their were bright flourescent lights dotted the ceiling and the lamps hung above the five stainless steel examination tables; one of which had the body of Yoruichi Shihouin. The other tables had bodies covered by white sheets, they were clearly female because of the lumps of varying sizes on the chest area. She had only been dead a week but her once exotic, chocolate skin had turned a faded, sickly blue. A man with blonde hair and a heavy-looking mask was opening her eyes for some reason hoping to find something only he knew to look for. The man stood up off his stool and threw off his rubber gloves.

"Of course I could, that's the problem." He said, throwing his gloves in a disposal bin.

Ichigo furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"

The man flung his arms into the air. "You know what I mean! This procedure is reserved for... 'special cases'..." He said, his head tilting down.

Ichigo grabbed his shirt and lifted the man toward him. "She **is **special, Alec!" He roared.

Alec simply stared at him. "You know what I mean: Politicians, soldiers, bureaucrats; anyone that knows something we need to know, not on the whim of a suspended soldier!"

Ichigo sighed. "I'm not suspended, I'm retired; indefinitely..." He slowly set Alec down and walked over to the table yoruichi was laid on and leaned on it with both hands, while the other man just watched.

"I... I think I loved her Al; I would do _anything _to bring her back." He inclined his head at Alec slightly without looking at him. "I've never asked for much from anyone, least of all a doctor, but I'm begging you: Please, please let me see this wonderful woman again, she's worth all the shit the others with give me... Please..." He pleaded.

Alec just sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Alright Ichigo, but you gotta do something for me." Ichigo turned to him; he could almost feel the peaceful smile he had under his mask. "Save my bloody ass when the shit hits the fan, eh?" Ichigo smiled and shook Alec's hand.

"Deal!"

Alec passed him and opened a nearby closet, and rolled out a platform with a glass tank filled with a glowing blue liquid, and attached it to an IV with flowed into Yoruichi's dead veins. Ichigo looked at the other tables and walked over to them. He lifted one up and his eyes widened as he found the third Espada, Tia Halibel. He lifted the other sheets and discovered her fraccion, and turned toward his friend.

"Hey! What's with these girls?" He asked.

Alec looked up at him. "You didn't think I would sit back and let such interesting bodies be disposed of, would you?" He looked back to Yoruichi and continued the procedure.

"What are you gonna do with them?"

"I figure I'll give them the same operation I'm giving this woman and sell them to the highest state faction." Alec answered without looking back up.

Ichigo stared at them for a minute. "How much?"

He heard a clattering of metal and saw that Alec had dropped his scalpel. "Why the hell would you want them?" He yelled.

Ichigo just stared at him. "You know how long untrained women last with us?"

The doctor sighed. "A million and a half for the lot."

Ichigo frowned. "That's steep..."

"Take it or leave it."

"Fine... you know my account." He groaned at the fatal blow to his bank account.

The doctor grabbed a gasmask from the same closet he got the tank from and looked at Ichigo. "This is the part where you don't want to be here."

He started out the door but Alec grabbed his shoulder. "We both know, Ichigo, you never really retire until your dead in this business." He was incredibly serious.

Ichigo seemed to want to deny it but nodded. "I know, but at least I'm not on the Dullahan list anymore..."

Alec nodded. "Lot of work; being on that list."

Ichigo looked at Yoruichi with worry. "Take care of her, doc." He walked out of the room.

He waited until he heard the door of the building close and whispered. "Like she was one of my own, brother...

_CHAPTER END_

I know! You're all confused! All will be explained in later chapters!


	3. Chapter 3

OK! I've decided not to delete this story. Thanks for all the support, you guys! Oh! I kinda would like someone who's made a few Bleach stories to kinda do a once-over on future chapters.

Don't own Bleach, my lawyer says so! -cries-

_CHAPTER START_

_On a long track of grassland that seemed to lead nowhere was a small Orange-haired boy walking beside an elderly man in clothes that looked like he jumped out of a spaghetti western and the boy had on a pair of camouflage pants and a black T-shirt that looked like they belonged to a man at least twice his age, his black combat boots where the only thing that fit him._

"_Ready?" Asked the old man, his voice sounded like he had spent an eternity without water._

"_Yes, Grandpa." He replied_

_The grandfather grunted before reaching behind his back and pulling out a hand gun with a laser-pointer mounted on the right of the barrel._

"_What's this gun?" He held it to the side so the boy could see it better._

"_A Mauser C96 with a custom compensator and laser sight." He answered, not taking a second to do so._

"_And what's the term for the type of magazine it uses?" He questioned, like it was a pop quiz._

"_Stripper clips, grandpa." _

"_And how many rounds can those clips hold?"_

"_With your model; ten, sir." His eyes sparkles slightly at the chance that the man might __actually__ compliment him._

"_Hmm... You're ready, Boy." _

_He felt he was going to jump for joy, but restrained himself for fear of making his grandfather change his mind. He did jump, though, when the man swung around to face him and leveled the Mauser at Ichigo's head._

"_Not as good as Alec, though." It looked like he was squeezing the trigger in slow-motion and the bullet rocketed through his skull-_

"AH!" Ichigo burst from under the covers of his bed.

He sheltered his face in his hands as he panted from sheer frustration. He could feel shadows of a forgottenpart of his life trying their hardest to break out of his mind where thy laid buried for **so **long. The memories upon memories piling on top of each other and flashing across his mind's eye in a heartless slide-show that fills him with regret from the depths of his heart.

"_Welcome to the family, you little shits!"_

"_Gonna give up and die that fast? I expected more, boy!"_

"_What _are we?"

"_Am I even really_ _alive?"_

"_Death? Is that even real?"_

"_Big Brother, am I gonna die?"_

"_Living isn't a right, it's an award for a job well done..."_

"_Let me explain to you_ _something, we don't fight for everlasting peace; that's only a fantasy, a fool's fantasy. There will always be people higher up in the food-chain than you or me wanting something that requires bloodshed to achieve, that is where we come in. But the harsh, beautiful truth is simple: that moment of contentment; that so-brief feeling we get, that doesn't even last a day at a time after we climbed upon a mountain build of the opposition and lift that dirty phone to our face and hear those three words that just might bring weaker one's to tears is worth killing for. It might not make much sense to you now; you're young, but when it happens, you'll know the feeling forever and then those three wonderful words are all you'll spend your life fighting to hear... And I hope you listen, boy, because with what we do... those words are precious..."_

"_**Come on home."**_

'Why is this happening now? Is it because of Yoruichi?' He thought.

He winced at the sharp song of his cell phone ringing and retrieved it from his bedside.

"Hello?"

"Ichigo, it's Alec."

"Yeah, no shit. What's the situation with Yoruichi?"

"That's what I called you about, she's ready for activation. Come in when you feel like it."

"I'll be there in five." He said, hanging up.

He dress himself and headed out the door.

_**LATER...**_

Ichigo almost rammed the door to Alec's laboratory on his way in. He found the same room he had entered the day before and penetrated it... with his foot.

"Was the destruction of my property really necessitated?" The doctor asked.

"First priority, Doc." He growled.

Alec sighed and removed the IV containing the blue liquid which was now empty. He threw off the white sheet off Yoruichi completely, revealing a series of black bandages that covered almost every square inch of her body, with only her long ponytail of violet hair cascading through a gap in the cloth at the back of her head.

"These bandages are infused with nanites that will repair the damage done to her body in the absence of a natural organic restoration system. All I have to do it activate them." He explained standing near an assortment of buttons on a control panel.

"What are you waiting for? Wake her up!" Ichigo yelled, clearly impatient.

"I just wanted to make sure you know what you are getting into!" Alec yelled back.

Ichigo lowered his voice. "I know the risks..."

The doctor opened a nearby drawer and fetched dozen or so pictures. "I don't think you do!"

He pushed the photos into Ichigo's hands and continued. "This is an incredibly unstable process! There is no predicting the side effects, some subjects have died as soon as they were activated, others expired from large boils and mutations, some even attacked me... Do you want that on your conscience? This isn't like me giving a woman breast implants and her tit-fucking a guy, this is my responsibility!"

Ichigo looked unfazed by the pictures, each contain horrors he didn't previously know about the project, inside he was almost moved to tears. He set the pictures down on the table and reached behind his back. He brought an unloaded Glock 18 with a stainless steel slide and a laser mounted under the barrel in front of him before reaching his other hand into his coat to grab a 33-round magazine and load it into the gun and chamber a round.

He walked around Alec to the control panel. "Push the green button to begin, right?" He asked.

The doctor looked surprised, but nodded. "You're right, this isn't your problem, I'll activate the Nanites, and if need be..." He looked down at the gun. "I'll clean up the mess."

Alec sighed and regarded Ichigo in a calmer tone. "No, I'll do it, I just wanted to-" Ichigo pointed the gun straight at him.

He glared at Alec. "Leave!" The doctor practically dove out of the broken door.

He walked over to Yoruichi and laid a hand on her cold arm. "I really don't know if I'm just being selfish, but ever since you first showed the real you to me, I've had to nail my mouth shut to resist telling you how I really feel; who I really am. I love you Yoruichi, and I want to spend the rest of my fucked-up life with you. Of course, after what I'm about to do, I'll understand if you hate me... but at least you'll be alive, and if you find happiness somewhere else... I'll... understand." He sighed before pressing lightly on a bright green button.

Electricity ran from the servers planted throughout the stone walls across the ceiling and back into the floor, caressing the thin wires leading to Yoruichi's bed and sending visible electric currents across her body that seemed to bite the very air in spite as they vitalized the microscopic machines that made the deceased woman convulse and thrash. Ichigo slowly flicked the safety off his weapon with his thumb.

The currents of voltage died down, but Yoruichi did not stop jerking around, Ichigo watched as she neared the edge of her table and vaulted to catch her. He cradled her on the ground as the more minor zaps vibrated through him. He sat with her, just staring at her hopefully. At least a full fifteen minutes past and Ichigo slowly stood up with her in his arms and placed her gently back on the bed.

"Well... That's it then" He said out loud, small tears pricking his eyes.

"Uh... Ichigo?" He nearly collapsed as he looked down quickly.

Sure enough, Yoruichi; covered in bandages from head to toe was holding her head and tugging on the wrappings on her eyes. Ichigo quickly got over his shock and put away his gun. He grabbed her hands.

"Don't. You need them to heal." His voice cracked slightly.

She laid a hand on his face. "Ichigo, how am I here? I remember-" She asked, obviously fidgeting at the fact she was temporarily blind.

"I know, I know. I'll explain everything soon." A few tear fell on her hand as he lifted her back up.

"Ichigo... are you... crying?" He started to carry her out of the room.

"No... Don't be stupid..."

_CHAPTER END_


	4. Get this bitch offa me!

Chapter four! All the reviews! Love that you guys liked it!

Don't own Bleach

_CHAPTER START_

Ichigo smiled as Alec unwrapped the midnight-colored bandages from around Yoruichi after almost two months of physical therapy to remind her of her body's limitations. He turned away politely when Alec reached her breasts. He ground his teeth at the urge to look at her reared it's voluptuous head, but he pushed it down. Instead, he made his way to the average-looking waiting room and leaned on a nearby wall to wait.

_15 MINUTES LATER_

The redhead's head had just started to nod down in a drowsy gait when the door slammed open and forced him completely awake. Yoruichi came through hanging on Alec's arm for support _still _covered from head to two in black bandages with the exception of her eyes, which from what he could see, still had sickly blue skin tone. She had a Long, but form-fitting tan Burberry trench coat

'That must have been why he left the bandages on' He smiled at the sight of her anyway.

Alex gently lead Yoruichi to Ichigo and she slowly transferred to his arm. He at least had the decency to blush. Yoruichi chuckled.

"What's the matter ichigo? You've never been groped by a mummy?" She looked up at him smugly while he grinned. Yoruichi had to double back a few seconds when she spotted his outfit. Most of his body was covered by a faded black leather duster that was buttoned to mid-chest, with a heavy-looking pair of leather boots and black denim jeans. He had on skintight black shirt that had a high neck-line. Her mind was still somewhat foggy, but her years on the stealth force, coupled with his body language told her he had at _least _three weapons stashed under his coat. Her eyes narrowed slightly.

Ichigo shook Alec's hand. "Tell me if they give you any trouble."

The masked blonde nodded. "Guaranteed."

Ichigo slowly, but surely lead Yourichi out of the clinic and through a pair of glass doors. Yoruichi was thankful it was raining, otherwise her eyes would have to deal with the harsh light of the sun as Ichigo guided her to a black limo. As they walked, Yoruichi couldn't help but think how cool he looked in his own long duster, the way it billowed in the wind and his own lengthy swagger made it seem he was born to wear it. She was so caught up in looking him over she didn't notice the way he drank in the way _her _trench coat embraced her curves tightly and how her left leg (which he now saw had a black tennis shoe on it) extended out of the slit in her coat and seemed so _appetizing _he could barely stand it. He helped her in the limo and it started on it's way.

Yoruichi crossed her legs to try to get rid of the stiffness in her joints that had barely gone away since she woke up a week ago.

"So were are we going, Ichigo? This feels like a kidnaping!" She laughed and her heart sang when he did to.

"A place of mine in a secluded forest not far from here."

She smirked. "Why Ichigo! You aren't trying to get me into the woods and defile me are you?"

Ichigo blushed and Sputtered. "I-It's to help you recover in privacy, Idiot!"

She smirked behind her bindings, it was so fun to tease him.

She suddenly bent over in pain and Ichigo rushed over to help her, she abruptly sat up and glared at Ichigo before wrapping her arms around his neck and attempting to strangle him! He quickly pried her hands off his neck and held her arms to her sides.

"Yoruichi! Snap out of it!" He yelled while the driver screamed his concerns.

She head butted him and tried to wretch herself free but Ichigo just held her harder. He flipped her over with one arm and secured her hands behind her back, then unbuttoned his coat revealing a Nickel-plated Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine gun and a OA-93 Automatic pistol with a 90-round snail drum magazine, both braced to his chest by leather slings. He had a blood-red custom Strayer Voigt Infinity 1911 .45 holstered at his waist. The snail drum to the OA-93 was strapped to the inside of his left leg for concealing purposes.

Ichigo flung his belt out of his belt-loops and restrained her arms behind her the sat her on the lounge seat in the back of the limo, she struggled in the restraints, but finding them secure, yielded to just sitting and growling at him. Ichigo grabbed a cell-phone and called Alec's number.

"_Yeah?"_

"Yoruichi just attacked me!"

"_Huh, is she restrained?"_

"Yeah..."

"_OK, this should wear off in a few hours; maximum of three, but until then, DON'T LET HER OUT OF THOSE BINDINGS, she'll try anything to get out of them and she won't need a third chance, got me?"_

"Alright."

"_See ya."_

Ichigo closed the phone and almost jumped out of the car when he looked up and saw her smiling sweetly at him. "Ichigo? Please let me go, I'll be a good girl; I promise." She bared her large chest as best she could with her hands tied back. "Or a bad girl if you prefer." She spread her legs slightly, giving him a good view of her gauze-covered camel-toe and he blushed bright scarlet as he recognized the gauze dampening with what he knew was arousal, judging by the shade of the cloth.

He stared down at his revealed arsenal and decided to leave his duster open since he obviously didn't have to worry about freaking her out with his weapons. He didn't think he could get any redder when he looked at his reflection in the window, but...

"Ichigo." Yoruichi purred.

He took the incredible risk of looking at her and instantly regretted it when she laid on her side and used thrust her chest forward quickly, causing her first few top buttons to unsnap and her rock-hard nipples show themselves behind black cloth. He reach over and fastened them back up and leaned back.

'This is going to be a long car ride.' He thought.

He looked behind him at the driver. "Step on it."

_End Chapter_

And the Plot thickens! Review!


	5. Love and sex and magic

HHHEEEERRRRRRRREEEEEESSSSS FFFFAAAAACCCCCYYYYY! Yo! Sorry for the long absence in updates, but I was in the hospital for a few months with third degree burns on my arms, another result of fighting with my brother! He pushed me into a stove! That's OK though, cause I pushed his face into it, he's still in the clinic! Ha! Dumbass... Don't own Bleach!

_CHAPTER START_

Yoruichi frowned. She frowned hard. She wanted answers; now. She tried to get comfortable and lean back to relax but since Ichigo kindly refused to untie her, her fists kept digging into her waist and made relaxing impossible. Since she lunged at Ichigo, her mind seemed to **finally **clear itself up and she had to wonder how Ichigo could afford this priceless mode of transportation with his salary. She had also not missed the human weapons strapped in his person. After looking at them for a few seconds she couldn't help but believe from their positions that a professional had arranged them from the precise angles they sat and that the only high-capacity magazine was concealed elsewhere while the other two guns were locked and loaded. (Although she truly didn't know much about firearms and really was just guessing.) Either an experienced soldier had made Ichigo stand still for a long time while he rigged up the system perfectly or something wasn't adding up.

She also knew for a fact that Ichigo looked unquestionably sexy in his skintight shirt as he reclined himself back and shut his eyes. He probably had the muscle structure of a Greek god. She licked her lips. She also thought about all the nasty things she would be doing to him right now if she wasn't inhibited by a leather belt.

"Ichigo."

He opened one eye. "Hmm?"

"I believe you owe me some answers."

Ichigo sighed, but kept his eyes closed. "What do you want to know?"

"What are you?"

"A human." He opened his eyes.

"No your not, not a conventional one anyway."

He got up and untied his belt from her arms and put it back around his pants. He sat back down and rubbed his forhead.

"I'm a Simmons; First generation."

Yoruichi tilted her head as she rubbed her wrists. "And that is?"

He sighed again, then leaned forward and intertwined his hands. "What do you know about the human world? I mean government, economics, society; it general system basically."

Yoruichi folded her hands in her lap and crossed her legs before shrugging. "Not much, as far as I know, a lot of government in this age is democracy, and people's rights'; why?"

Ichigo seemed to glare at nothing for a moment before speaking. "What if I told you that's bullshit? That everything is thought out and guessed many years in advance and not a kid gets a splinter without someone knowing about it? What if I told you that everything in this world is controlled by a single omnipotent super-power that no average person in the world knows about?"

Yoruichi's eyes widened. "This is pretty farfetched, Ichigo."

Ichigo nodded. "You ever heard of John F. Kennedy?"

Yoruichi nodded. "He was supposed to be a fantastic American president and got assassinated not too long ago. What does that have to do with-"

"My mother shot him." He waited for her reaction. She just sat speechless in surprise.

"Right in the back of the neck, perfect shot with a Carcano M91/38 rifle; no scope. She was a Simmons. Since the first Crusades, the Simmons' have regulated the balance and held modern society in a vice-grip. They have been breeding people with the best genes into killers from the 1800's to present-day, I'm one of the results; supposedly the best so far, despite the fact that my mom broke their law and married my dad and then had me. I was taken for training at five years old and sent on my first mission at seven, a success, I retired at fourteen for my Mom's sake. It was in her will that I not continue the 'family tradition' and that's why you are currently alive right now."

Yoruichi sat dumbstruck, absorbing the incredible information slowly. "But I remember-"

Ichigo looked angry. "You remember dying, right? Aizen stabbing you in the chest with his sword? What an answer to that?" She nodded.

"The Simmons' have been advancing technology decades ahead of their time since the American Revolution. When humans were coming out with percussion pistols, we invent cartridges, when humans got cartridges, we got fully-automatics. It was only a matter of time before they found out how to bring back the dead."

Yoruichi couldn't believe her ears, she had died? The Flash Goddess had perished? That's why her joints felt so stiff, she was a carcass!

Tears came to her eyes as she collapsed onto the floor of the car. Ichigo wrapped his hands around her. She screamed. "I'm a corpse! I'm a corpse!" She wept.

Ichigo held her at arms length and shook her. "No you're not!" She kept crying. He felt almost worthless as the light started to fade from her eyes. Her head quickly snapped to the left and her right cheek started to sting slightly as she slowly looked at him.

He growled. "You don't get to act dead now! Not when I just got you back!"

She roared and grabbed his shirt, tears spilling from her eyes. "How am I supposed to act, huh? What do you want from me? You want rainbows to come out of my ass, Ichigo?"

He shocked her when he embraced her fully and held her like a lover. " I want you to live, if I was being honest, I'd say I want you to live with me, Yoruichi."

He watched as the light returned to her eyes as she smiled. "What are you saying Ichigo?"

He grinned. "I'm saying I love you, Yoruichi."

_**RING RING RING**_

Ichigo sighed at the ruined moment and answered his phone.

"Yeah"

"_OK, I was gonna wait another hour, but you can take her bandages off now!"_

_**CLICK...**_

"_Ichigo? Hey, Ichigo?"_

Ichigo threw the phone behind him and ripped the gauze off Yoruichi's face, but her surprise quickly turned to surrender as he ensnared her lips with his own. Their tongues flicked against each other not for dominance, but for plain company it seemed as Yoruichi broke the kiss.

She grinned at Ichigo's expression. "That good, huh?"

He grinned back. "You just wait 'til we get to _my _place."

She cupped his jaw in her hand. "I'm not a patient woman, Ichigo."

_CHAPTER END_


End file.
